Maldives president calls for peaceful polls, ex-president confident of victory

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Maldives president calls for peaceful polls, ex-president confident of victory

(Xinhua) 10:25, October 09, 2013

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Maldives President Mohamed Waheed on Tuesday called for a peaceful Presidential election after the country's Supreme Court annulled the results of the elections held last month.

The Supreme Court directed that the first round of fresh Presidential Election be held before the Oct. 20 and the second round, if needed, to be held before Nov. 4.

The president met the President of the Elections Commission Fuad Thawfeeq and discussed preparations for the elections on the new date, the President's office said.

The Maldives' Supreme Court on Monday night ordered the Elections Commission to schedule a fresh vote after a candidate challenged the outcome, citing irregularities.

The president said the government's priority was to ensure that the election was held in a smooth and peaceful manner. He said it was important that everyone puts forward national interests ahead of everything else. In this regard, he said it was especially important that the integrity of the entire elections process is enhanced and maintained.

Meanwhile, ousted President Mohammad Nasheed is confident of a "landslide" victory in the upcoming presidential elections.

Speaking in Colombo, Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which bagged 45.45 percent of the vote during the last election round in September, was upbeat about the fresh round of voting.

MDP spokesman and former Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem stressed that the Maldivian people are not interested in turning back from democracy.

The Maldives became a democracy in 2008 under heavy international pressure, which saw the group of islands 30 year autocratic leader ousted from power by Nasheed.

However, Nasheed himself was removed from power in February of 2012 in what he alleged was a coup.

The court ordered that if no candidate secured an absolute majority in the fresh elections to be held before Oct. 20, a runoff election should be held before Nov. 4.

The Supreme Court in its verdict noted that a total of 5,623 irregularities were found in the electoral list used for the first round of voting, which was later scrutinized by police forensics.

The Supreme Court order came days after a television station supportive of Nasheed was set on fire sparking called from the international community for a transparent investigation.

The international community led by the U.S. and United Nations have also been closely observing the polls and calling for a swift resumption of the electoral process.

A new president must be sworn in by Nov. 11, according to the Constitution.